Seoul Fashion Week SS2017 Recap: Part 1/2

I was able to attend another season of Seoul Fashion Week. I’ve officially been in attendance for a year now, and sometimes can’t believe it is real. It is inspiring to see young designers push the boundaries on fashion in Korea. Unfortunately, for a Spring/Summer showcase I wanted to see more colors and life. Everything felt a bit heavy and dark in styles, textures, and wear. Maybe it was the shows I attended? Everyone has different styles and I appreciate that! So while they might not be my esthetic, I am happy to see the different creations walk the runway. Here’s a bit of a recap, some of the shows I attended, and my thoughts along the way.

Day 4 (10/20)
I jumped into Seoul Fashion Week towards the end of the week. I had a packed schedule on Thursday and was indulged with the likes of Cres. E Dim., Jarrett, YCH, and D. Gnak. I was accompanied to the shows by Beauty and Seoul and we had a lot of fun.

Cres. E Dim.
My Dream is Absolute Beauty. That was the theme of the show, thus, we saw many easy looks, with a comfortable style. One trend I saw in this show that continued itself through many shows during Fashion Week were overly long sleeves, and oversized glasses with, let’s face it, grandma chains. You know the ones. They keep you from losing your spectacles. There was also an asymmetric element to many pieces that I saw carried throughout the week. The style is very ready to wear and I can see this being popular with the youthful K-pop crowd. Photos courtsey of Cre. E Dim’s Instagram (none of mine came out clear.)

After leaving the show I ran into fellow fashionista Fashion Needs Jesus. Her and I connected over Instagram after the last Fashion Week so it was fun chatting between shows. The people I meet during fashion week are one of the reasons I love attending so much! I’ve met some amazing people over these seaons and love catching up between shows.

Jarret
Bringing a little more whimsy and romance to this collection, Jarret showed a lot of flirty fridge with this collection. At first I was really excited to see this collection, but as it walked the runway I couldn’t help but notice, didn’t we just see this? Oversized/elongated sleeves, glasses with the “grandma” chains, and a lot of slits and splits. I loved that her collection had a nice variety of prints and textures that worked well and actually resembled a spring collection. Though they were done in a different way, the fact stayed with me and the feeling reappeared in many shows. Here are a few “springy” shots from Jarret’s Instagram.

YCH
This was my favorite collection of the day. I’m a print girl so I love it when designers are not afraid to play with colors, prints, and textures. The custom camouflage fabric with hearts, the take on solider inspired pieces, and the mixing of prints and textures made for a fun runway. Again, super long sleeves, slits, and splits. I know Korean fashion is one to follow trends. Maybe this was my first season to notice it as much as I did. More from YCH on their Instagram.

D. Gnak
This was the last show of the day for me as I scooted off to the Olaplex World Tour event. I attended the D. Gnak show last season so I knew it was a menswear collection that leans eerie and masculine. This designer often includes an element of surprise in his runways, and this season, it was an elevated catwalk. This is a simple idea and it was executed amazingly! No matter where you were sitting you could have a head-to-toe shot of the outfits as they walked the runway. Overall it was a pretty dark collection and ended with the models sporting long jackets with 10th anniversary labeling.

After a long day of shows we shuffled off to the Floating Islands on the Han River to enjoy a meeting with Guy Tang and learn all about the magic of Olaplex. Stay tuned for Part 2!